North West Corporate Finance team lead on a spate of October deals
Dow Schofield Watts’ experienced Corporate Finance team in the North West acted as lead adviser on four completed transactions in October, as international M&A proves increasingly resilient to economic and tax uncertainty.
The wide variety of deals in this short period typifies the team’s range of advisory expertise, with DSW acting as lead sell-side adviser on sales to both private equity and trade, as well as acting as lead buy-side adviser on two acquisitions. The recent completions were particularly weighted towards niche business services, renewables and utilities, all sectors in which the team has utilised experience from previous deals in recent years and also in which further completions from the team are expected in the coming months.
Three of the four deals announced in October were cross-border, with buyers and targets from Australia, Sweden and Germany, demonstrating that overseas M&A is still an effective route for successful UK businesses to expand their footprints and access new markets and that interest from overseas buyers and investors in pioneering UK businesses remains strong.
Gregg Pendlington, Partner at Dow Schofield Watts, said, “We’re really pleased to complete all four of these transactions during a particularly busy period for us.
Our focus is on delivering excellent results on behalf of our trusted clients and leveraging our team’s consistently strong track record and expertise across business services and utilities despite the recent political uncertainty that has grabbed the headlines.”
In a flagship deal, the team advised the shareholders of Cheshire-based EA Technology on a majority investment from Nordic Impact Investor Summa Equity, which invested from its €2.3bn Summa Equity Fund III.
From L – R; Alex Odlin, Jack Keoghan, Dan Walker, Gerard Lucas, Callum Sellar, Ross Thomas, and Gregg Pendlington
EA, with its smart grid hardware, software and services, is an international leader in the energy sector with a mission to promote the development of decarbonised, resilient, accessible and low-cost energy networks. The company has experienced significant growth under its existing leadership, with £48m in annual revenue in 2023 and around 300 full-time employees. The investment will help enhance EA’s capabilities and accelerate the delivery of its products to the market on a larger, global scale.
Another significant sell-side deal for the team was advising the shareholders of North Wales-based Ruth Lee, a specialist in the design and manufacture of manikins for rescue and emergency services training, on their sale to Protect Medical, backed by German PE house Borromin Capital. DSW ran a highly competitive auction process and received several offers, but a strategic partnership with Protect Medical was deemed the best option to allow the business to continue delivering the highest standard of service while also expanding its product range and extending its reach into new markets and sectors.
In addition, the team again demonstrated its buy-side advisory capabilities, acting as lead buy-side adviser on bolt-on acquisitions for two North West-based businesses backed by private equity.
The team has advised on all eight of environmental consultancy APEM’s bolt-on acquisitions, including two in 2024, helping contribute to the company’s impressive growth story to date. Australian business Attexo, a specialist in the renewables sector, is the latest of these acquisitions. The deal was the second time this year that the North West team has partnered with Australian corporate finance advisor Aequo Partners, part of Pandea Global M&A, the internal network of M&A firms founded by Dow Schofield Watts.
Finally, DSW again acted as buy-side lead adviser for Alpine Fire Engineers, a market-leading fire suppression specialist that designs, installs and maintains active fire suppression systems for complex environments on its acquisition of DAS Fire. DAS Fire is a leading provider of fire detection and suppression solutions for the data centre market in the UK and Ireland and represents Alpine’s first bolt-on acquisition since WestBridge’s investment in late 2022.
Gregg added, “Companies in attractive niches within our sectors of focus continue to attract a lot of interest from trade and private equity buyers, and we still have a strong pipeline of deals we expect to complete in the coming months.
We expect M&A activity to continue to be strong over the remainder of the tax year and beyond despite the tax changes in the budget, as inflationary pressures continue to ease and interest rates fall further.”
